Devices for compressing the limbs of archery bows have been known in the art for many years. U.S. Pat. No. 3,000,628 discloses a bow stringer for stringing either a recurved or straight bow. U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,655 shows a device for accurately stringing bows wherein it is impossible to misalign the string with the lateral axis of the bow. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,397 describes an apparatus for calibrating bows and enabling proper adjustments to be made. U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,377 discloses a portable bow press for facilitating repair and adjustment of an archer's compound-type bow. U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,736 shows an archery bow sighting and tuning apparatus.
In addition to the above cited U.S. Patents, there exist several commercially available archery bow presses. Two such presses are particularly worthy of mention, and are briefly described in the following paragraphs.
The "Bow Compressor", manufactured and sold by Rampro Sporting Goods Division, 2500 Greenwell Court, Wilmington, N.C. is depicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. This device, generally designated as 500, comprises a base 501, to which are attached two compression arms 502 and 503. The compression arms 502 and 503 rotate around pivot points 504 and 505. Two rollers 506 and 507 are attached to end of the two compression arms 502 and 503. A bow generally designated as 150, having tensioned bow string 160, is loaded in the compressor such that the two bow limbs 156 and 158 rest upon the two rollers 506 and 507. The face of the bow 154 is vertically retained in position by straps 508 and 509. Wheel 510 is manually rotated as indicated by arrow 511. This causes screw 512 to engage elevator arms 513 and 514 thereby causing compression arms 502 and 503 to move in the respective directions of arrows 515 and 516. This causes inward compression of bow limbs 156 and 158, and resultantly, bow string 160 is relaxed so that the desired adjustment or repair actions may be effected.
The "Kwik-Jak" Speed Bow Press, manufactured and sold by Lancaster Archery Supply, 2195A Old Philadelphia Pike, Lancaster, Pa. 17602 is depicted in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. This device, generally designated as 600, comprises a base 601, to which is attached a fixed bar 602. Compression arms 603 and 604 rotate around pivot points 605 and 606. Two rollers 607 and 608 are attached near the ends of the fixed bar 602, and two additional rollers 609 and 610 are attached near the ends of compression arms 603 and 604. Cable 612 is attached to compression arms 603 and 604 via cable fulcrum 613 which is attached to jack mechanism 614 having jack handle 615. A bow generally designated as 150, having tensioned bow string 160, is loaded in the bow press such that the two bow limbs 156 and 158 rest upon the two rollers 609 and 610. Jack handle 615 is operated causing cable fulcrum 613 to move vertically in the direction of arrow 616. This vertical motion causes the cable 612 to pull the compression arms 603 and 604 upward in the direction of the arrows 617 and 618. The upward motion of the compression arms causes the face of the bow 154 to engage the rollers 607 and 608, and continued upward motion causes inward compression of bow limbs 156 and 158, and resultantly, bow string 160 is relaxed so that the desired adjustment or repair actions may be effected.
Each of the aforestated prior art devices have one or more specific limitations and disadvantages. These limitations and disadvantages include, (1) marginal portability, (2) lengthy set up time, (3) discontinuous incremental operation, (4) lack of rotation stops, (5) inability to accommodate an unstrung totally relaxed bow, and (6) inability to accommodate all bow types and configurations. The present invention overcomes all of these limitations and disadvantages by employing a unique combination of prior art features with new and heretofore unsuggested technical methods.